Tag Archives: Peace Fleet

Local activists will stage a water-based nonviolent protest against the glorification of weapons of war at the Seattle Seafair festival. Peace activists will meet the U.S. Navy fleet in Elliott Bay.

Other peace activists will meet on land at Waterfront Park on the Seattle waterfront at the same time for a nonviolent demonstration against weapons of war. The rooftop of Pier 66 is closed to the public this year, and Piers 62/63 are construction areas.

All are welcome to participate, either on land or on the water.

What: Peace activists at Seafair. This is the sixteenth year for this demonstration.

When: Wednesday, August 2, noon, Peace Fleet in Elliott Bay. Demonstration on land at Waterfront Park (just south of the Seattle Aquarium) at 1 PM.

Where: In Elliott Bay, near Pier 66. Demonstration on land at Waterfront Park (just south of the Seattle Aquarium.)

Email info@gzcenter for details on participating on the water. Boats may be docked earlier in Bell Harbor Marina on August 1 or in the morning before the Navy fleet arrival on August 2.

Local activists will stage a water-based nonviolent protest against the glorification of weapons of war at the Seattle Seafair festival. Peace activists will meet the U.S. Navy fleet in Elliott Bay.

Other peace activists will meet on land at Waterfront Park on the Seattle waterfront at the same time for a nonviolent demonstration against weapons of war. The rooftop of Bell Harbor Marina is closed to the public this year, and Piers 62/63 are construction areas.

What: Peace activists at Seafair. This is the sixteenth year for this demonstration.

When: Wednesday, August 2, noon, Peace Fleet in Elliott Bay. Demonstration on land at Waterfront Park (just south of the Seattle Aquarium) at 1 PM.

Where: In Elliott Bay, near Pier 66. Demonstration on land at Waterfront Park (just south of the Seattle Aquarium.)

For the sixteenth year, peace activists will address the public display of warships and warplanes in our community.

Why would we demonstrate for peace at a Seattle maritime festival? Because the celebration of warships in our harbor helps bring about the normalcy of modern war.

The fleet arrival at Seafair is a public relations and recruiting eventfor the U.S. Navy. Previous years have brought Trident nuclear submarines complete with nuclear warheads and Navy warships used to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles in the first and second Wars on Iraq and the War on Afghanistan. The fleet is displayed for four days in downtown Seattle at tremendous cost to taxpayers while crucial social services in education, health care, and transportation are being cut for lack of funds.

Please see Fact Sheet

Fact Sheet — Peace activists at Seafair on August 2, 2017

The Peace Fleet is an incarnation of earlier demonstrations: the People’s Blockade of U.S. Navy vessels carrying munitions during the Vietnam War; and the Peace Blockade in Hood Canal, demonstrating against the arrival of the first Trident submarine, the USS Ohio, at the Trident submarine base at Bangor in 1982.

The Peace Fleet began on August 2, 2000 when the Trident submarine, USS Alabama, arrived in downtown Seattle for Seafair, complete with up to 192 nuclear warheads.

In 2011, Seafair and the Navy changed the public viewing area on the rooftop of Pier 66 into a private event. This is the location where in previous years the public had been invited to view the Parade of Ships. In past years, the number of peace activists including the singing group, the Raging Grannies, equaled the number of other rooftop observers. In 2016, the rooftop was open to the public for the first year since 2010 without incident. The rooftop is closed again this year to the public.

2012 was the first year for the Coast Guard’s permanent rule for its no-protest zone, or so-called “safety zone,” in Elliott Bay. The Coast Guard agreed with the ACLU that Peace Fleet boats should be able to remain in the area between the Coast Guard’s 100-yard exclusionary zone from Navy vessels and the safety zone which extends 100 yards from Pier 66. See below the Coast Guard map for Pier 66 for 2014 showing the Seafair Parade of Ships route along the waterfront.

In 2013, the US Navy did not attend Seafair due to military budget cuts in FY 2013 resulting from the Budget Control Act of 2011, also known as sequestration. The Department of Defense decided in 2013 to halt participation in community relations or outreach events that come at additional cost to the federal government. In April 2013, a spokesperson for the Navy’s 3rd Fleet said that the round-trip bill for fuel alone for three warships from San Diego to attend the Seattle Seafair festival in 2012 cost $1.1 million.

On July 14, 2017, on a vote of 344-88, the House of Representatives passed a $696 billion National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018. Of the 10 Washington State representatives, only Representative Jayapal voted against the defense bill. The bill far exceeded the amount of money sought by the Pentagon and the Trump administration.

On June 14, 2016, on a vote of 85-13, the Senate passed a $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2017. Both Senators Murray and Cantwell voted for the defense bill. Likely they will both support the Senate bill this year.

The Peace Fleet this year, as in past years, will require no public funds or public resources.

The next Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action event is August 12-14 at the Ground Zero Center in Poulsbo, and at the Bangor submarine base, in commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 12, Peace Fleet vessels and other vessels will sail past the Trident submarine base in Hood Canal in a Boats by Bangornonviolent demonstration.

Concerned about nuclear war? How about the CBO’s new estimate that the US nuclear modernization program will cost $1.2 TRILLION DOLLARS? And what about that guy in the White House with his tiny finger on the button? If these issues occupy your mind, and if you want some fun and fellowship while trying the save the planet, here is a suggestion: please come to the Ground Zero Center for our August activities to help stand up against the madness of preparing for nuclear war. 2017 is the 72nd anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and is a vital time to work against the Trident weapons system and its immense costs and dangers.

This has been a busy year for GZ, with many new or resumed activities such as leafleting, a workshop at the Seattle MLK Rally, a second round of bus ads, an Earth Day action, a gate action in coordination with PLC, and more. Both regular GZ activists and newcomers have been joining in for everything from weeding the grounds to risking arrest. With all of this, it is good to reflect that the anniversary of the atomic bombings is the most important opportunity to remind the public of the horrendous destructiveness of nuclear weapons and to take both concrete and symbolic steps to oppose them.

Our events take place this year a bit later in the month due to the From Hiroshima To Hope ceremony’s being on Sunday August 6. The Ground Zero Center will be open for visitors and overnight participants beginning the evening of Friday, August 11, with a private screening of Helen Young’s film, The Nuns, the Priests, and the Bomb. Peacewalkers arrive at GZ Saturday August 12 in time for the second Boats By Bangor waterborne protest on Hood Canal, with an evening concert by musician and longtime GZ stalwart, Tom Rawson. Sunday the 13th is a full day of events at Ground Zero, including a Trident orientation and slide show, nonviolence training, planning and discernment for action at the Bangor gates, and time to vigil, write messages to the federal government, or make peace cranes as attendees desire. That evening is a second concert, a special Pete Seeger tribute by local folkies Hank ‘n’ Claire with a multimedia slide show. GZ’s vigil and nonviolent direct action at Bangor is bright and early on the morning of August 14. Workers arriving for the morning shift will have time to consider the costs and consequences of America’s nuclear weapons programs when Ground Zero activists bring our message of love and sanity right before their eyes.

Co-organizers Mary Gleysteen, Mack Johnson, and Elizabeth Murray are looking forward to seeing as many people as possible for our gathering. Invite your partner! Tell your friends! Helpers and kayakers wanted! Bring your dog! Take a few steps for peace and the earth, and GZ will help you take more.

The Peace Fleet meets the Navy’s Parade of (WAR) Ships in Seattle’s Elliott Bay (near Pier 66) on Tuesday, August 2nd in a water-based nonviolent protest against the glorification of weapons of war at the Seattle Seafair festival.

This year the Peace Fleet will be joined with the original peace ship, the Golden Rule, that set sail in 1958 to the South Pacific to stop nuclear testing in the atmosphere, and which inspired the many peace makers and peace ships that followed. See http://www.vfpgoldenruleproject.org.

Other peace activists will meet on the Seattle waterfront on the rooftop of the Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66 at the same time for a nonviolent demonstration against weapons of war.

What: Peace activists at Seafair. This is the fifteenth year for this demonstration.

When: Tuesday, August 2, noon, Peace Fleet in Elliott Bay. Demonstration on land on the rooftop of the Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66 at 1 PM.

Where: Elliott Bay, near Pier 66. Demonstration on land on the rooftop of the Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66.

For the fifteenth year, peace activists will address the public display of warships and warplanes in our community. The Golden Rule will be open to the public in Bell Harbor Marina from August 3-6, while moored several hundred feet from Navy warships.

Why would we demonstrate for peace at a Seattle maritime festival? Because the celebration of warships in our harbor helps bring about the normalcy of modern war.

The fleet arrival at Seafair is a public relations and recruiting eventfor the U.S. Navy. Previous years have brought Trident nuclear submarines complete with nuclear warheads and Navy warships used to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles in the first and second Wars on Iraq and the War on Afghanistan. The fleet is displayed for four days in downtown Seattle at tremendous cost to taxpayers while crucial social services in education, health care, and transportation are being cut for lack of funds.

For more information and to learn how to participate (either on the water or dockside), send an email to info@gzcenter.org.

Fact Sheet — Peace activists at Seafair on August 2, 2016

The Peace Fleet is an incarnation of earlier demonstrations: the People’s Blockade of U.S. Navy vessels carrying munitions during the Vietnam War; and the Peace Blockade in Hood Canal, demonstrating against the arrival of the first Trident submarine, the USS Ohio, at the Trident submarine base at Bangor in 1982.

The Peace Fleet began on August 2, 2000 when the Trident submarine, USS Alabama, arrived in downtown Seattle for Seafair, complete with up to 192 nuclear warheads.

In 2011, Seafair and the Navy changed the public viewing area on the rooftop of Pier 66 into a private event. This is the location where in previous years the public had been invited to view the Parade of Ships. In past years, the number of peace activists including the singing group, the Ragin Grannies, equaled the number of other rooftop observers.

2012 was the first year for the Coast Guard’s permanent rule for its no-protest zone, or so-called “safety zone,” in Elliott Bay. The Coast Guard agreed with the ACLU that Peace Fleet boats should be able to remain in the area between the Coast Guard’s 100-yard exclusionary zone from Navy vessels and the safety zone which extends 100 yards from Pier 66. See below the Coast Guard map for Pier 66 for 2014 showing the Seafair Parade of Ships route along the waterfront.

In 2013, the US Navy did not attend Seafair due to military budget cuts in FY 2013 resulting from the Budget Control Act of 2011, also known as sequestration. The Department of Defense decided in 2013 to halt participation in community relations or outreach events that come at additional cost to the federal government. In April 2013, a spokesperson for the Navy’s 3rd Fleet said that the round-trip bill for fuel alone for three warships from San Diego to attend the Seattle Seafair festival in 2012 cost $1.1 million.

On May 18, 2016, on a vote of 277-147, the House of Representatives passed a $610 billion for National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2017. Of the 10 Washington State representatives, DelBene, Larsen, McDermott, and Smith voted against the defense bill.

On June 14, 2016, on a vote of 85-13, the Senate passed a $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2017. Both Senators Murray and Cantwell voted for the defense bill.

The Peace Fleet this year, as in past years, will require no public funds or public resources.

Local activists will stage a water-based nonviolent protest against the glorification of weapons of war at the Seattle Seafair festival. Peace activists will meet the U.S. Navy fleet in Elliott Bay.

Other peace activists will meet on land near Pier 66 and on Pier 62/63 on the Seattle waterfront at the same time for a nonviolent demonstration against weapons of war.

The historic ship The Golden Rule will join this year’s Peace Fleet. The Golden Rule will be moored at Seattle’s Bell Harbor Marina, Pier 66, from August 2nd or 3rd until August 6th, and will be available for tours.